Start a movement to "cancel" commercial Christmas in the name of equity, fairness and justice

I am fed up with "commercial" Christmas and the emphasis on buy buy buy and gifts=love.

I have been for a long time. This time it hit home and hard.

I have one rich adult child with 2 H.S. age children and one middle middle class adult child with 2 young children and steep medical bills. My rich child lives a short drive from me (close enough for an EV to make it on one charge) and the middle class child across the country. The middle class child is coming for Christmas with the little ones. Thus the drama begins.

I told my rich kid that opening presents on Christmas will be at my house and the number of gifts per person limited because the other kid can't afford the 20 or so gifts the rich kid gives each of their children every Christmas. Our tradition is to open one gift, one person at a time. I said, lets have an early or late Christmas to the rich kid, when the other family isn't here, and open the rest of your gifts, at your house (so they could still lavish their children). Well the rich kids blew a gasket, they thought the other family, and their little kids could just sit and watch them when they ran out of presents, that it was no big deal. We had a long conversation. They relented and agreed with me, and all is good now. They were just stunned initially, and are very good, kind, and generous people who suddenly realized they just didn't think it through.

This illustrates what put me on this war path against commercial Christmas. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar one year. The scene where Jesus trashes the Temple was turned into a Christmas scene. People were selling expensive items and walking around with huge gift boxes. When Jesus came in and disrupted it all overturning the sellers tables and screaming "You have turned my Father's house into a den of thieves" From that moment on I came to see that I had done Christmas ALL WRONG. Commercialism and lavish gift giving in the name of a man (who said over and over to give up what you have and give to the poor) was wrong, very wrong. That Christmas, and from that moment on, I limited how many gifts I gave to any one person by 75%, and the quality and thought I put into the gifts soared.

On this issue I am WOKE as H.E.DoubleToothpicks!

Awake to the fact that commercial Christmas is not just, it is not fair, it is not equitable, it is also racist

With more rampant inflation looming and inevitable as was discussed in another thread yesterday. www.abovetopsecret.com...

With many families who used to be lower class now so poor they are barely able to put food on the table and pay rent.

With many middle class families just meeting their bills, and as super woke VP Kamala Harris said only $400 away from bankruptcy.www.whitehouse.gov...

Out of justice, fairness and equality should we not, as a people, work hard to cancel commercial Christmas and spread the message?

Let the Christians, like me, celebrate in church, have live nativities, make food boxes for the poor, take gifts of clothing, shoes and needed items to the poor and celebrate the way Christ would want Christians to celebrate. Giving to the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless on the streets of most major cities today.

We should through social media demand the end to commercial Christmas.

Demand those who say Christians are sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and evil,
those who hate Christians and loathe Christianity to
STOP being hypocrites
and making a mockery of of Christianity by celebrating it and
instead be just, fair and equitable to those who can't afford the cultural demand
to go broke and spend their food and rent money on useless gifts
or worse go into even more debt over gifts that will be forgotten in less than a year.

Because they are engaged in religious appropriation,

and cultural appropriation from Christians.

Yes this is early, because I choose to take this stand at my house this year early so feelings could dissipate before the day and we could gather as a loving family should. Also because I saw last week my first Christmas display in Walmart.

a reply to: The2Billies

I think most people just deal with Christmas in their own way.
My wife and I don't get each other very much other than something with a personal touch to it.

Larger mixed families can be more challenging.
We have our daughter open her gifts with just us but do the whole family event on Christmas Eve with a larger group.
Another thing we do is draw names on thanksgiving and that's the only person getting a gift from you on Xmas Eve.


Either way ya just gotta power through...🤠

a reply to: The2Billies

Let the Christians, like me, celebrate in church, have live nativities, make food boxes for the poor, take gifts of clothing, shoes and needed items to the poor and celebrate the way Christ would want Christians to celebrate. Giving to the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless on the streets of most major cities today.

They already do that. Don't they?
Year round, some of them.

Don't you think the Unchristian should do that too? Maybe skipping church part.

Because they are engaged in religious appropriation,

and cultural appropriation from Christians.

Give us a break! Can't we help the homeless too?
And even if we wanted to engage in crass spending, that shouldn't be reserved for Christians. Black Friday Sales for all I say!

Heathens have a long tradition of giving to their own.

Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. 46For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this? 47And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?

Matt 5. Douay-Rheims

a reply to: Bluntone22

Another thing we do is draw names on thanksgiving and that's the only person getting a gift from you on Xmas Eve.

That's one of the best ways to keep Christmas from being all about commercialism and keeping the sentiment behind gift giving alive, IMHO.
In cases of vast financial inequality, I've also seen family's impose a spending limit on the gift; if you've only got $10.00 to spend you have to put some serious thought into selecting a meaningful gift.

I read about a family that felt they had more than enough-so they started exchanging 'donations'; the 'gifter' would donate to a charity in the name of the 'giftee'. It got to be a family-friendly competition to see who could outdo the other.

For those who really, truly have little to no disposable 'White Elephant' Christmas can be more fun than a Halloween costume party.

I think there are religions that don't celebrate Christmas for Christians who oppose all the commercialism.

Since I first learned that we choose what we allow to offend us, not much gets under my skin these days. I've gotten a lot more selective as to where I direct my energy.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: The2Billies

Let the Christians, like me, celebrate in church, have live nativities, make food boxes for the poor, take gifts of clothing, shoes and needed items to the poor and celebrate the way Christ would want Christians to celebrate. Giving to the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless on the streets of most major cities today.

They already do that. Don't they?
Year round, some of them.

Don't you think the Unchristian should do that too? Maybe skipping church part.

Because they are engaged in religious appropriation,

and cultural appropriation from Christians.

Give us break! Can't I help the homeless?
And even if I wanted to engage in crass spending, that shouldn't be reserved for Christians. Black Friday Sales for all I say!

Heathens have a long tradition of giving to their own.

Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. 46For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this? 47And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?

Matt 5. Douay-Rheims

Wonderful, give to the poor, help those in need, FANTASTIC, I applaud you wholeheartedly!

Just stop bastardizing Christmas with crass commercialism and making it all about gimmie and gifts=love, and giving too much to your family and barely anything or nothing to those in need in comparison.

I think commercial Christmas is religious appropriation and cultural appropriation by the millions of those who openly despise and disrespect Christians and Christianity openly and with vigor.

Those people celebrating only commercial Christmas are openly mocking Christians and using it as an excuse to overindulge and over-consume. It encourages greed, selfishness, worshiping things, and damages the self esteem of the poor making it also racist. Commercial consumer Christmas is encouraging and creating more inequity, more inequality and more poverty in its wake.

If you want to go to a church and pick up tons of boxes to put toys and sanitary goods in to send to the poor in poverty stricken nations, that would be great, fantastic, wonderful and I encourage you to do so.

However, if you are loathe to walk into a church to pick up a food box to fill or a box to send to the poor, and return to the church for distribution, then you should not be celebrating Christmas, because you are making a mockery of the faith and religion with commercial consumerist Christmas. Just give to the poor on your own and not in mockery of a religious sacred moment.

Please do give to the poor, the needy, the downtrodden. Just don't culturally appropriate a religious celebration because it is insensitive, rude, and mocking the religion, whatever it is and whatever the celebration is.

a reply to: The2Billies

Great OP; you've really got the woke lingo down. Congratulations! I'm all with you on this. Of course, since everything is racist, Christmas....must be the height of racist, centered as it is on a "white" Jesus when in fact we all know he was black. And the lack of equity in the Christmas American style tradition is appalling. We should celebrate Christmas with police free special Black Friday looting day so flash mobs of those highest on the Victim matrix can get the goodies they can't otherwise afford. But really, why stop there? Christmas Eve could be "Suburban Run" Day, complete with buses to take the "Urbans" into the inequitable white suburbs for cop free looting of the presents the evil racist whites were going to give their racist entitled white children.

It's a new day in 'Murica! Celebrate it!

a reply to: The2Billies

Just stop bastardizing Christmas with crass commercialism and making it all about gimmie and gifts=love, and giving too much to your family and barely anything or nothing to those in need in comparison.

Okay, I will do that.

We have an artificial tree that we put up year after year.

Some of my family spend much more than I do. I buy a box of chocolate for each person. Mostly, it's the dinner, and eating a meticulously assembled feast together, with leftovers.

The grocery store has a charity fund where people can round up, or donate a fixed amount, for food banks. Around Christmas time there's the Salvation Army bucket, then down the road are the homeless.

No lack of opportunity to pitch in. I don't even have to go out of my way.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: The2Billies

Just stop bastardizing Christmas with crass commercialism and making it all about gimmie and gifts=love, and giving too much to your family and barely anything or nothing to those in need in comparison.

Okay, I will do that.

We have an artificial tree that we put up year after year.

Some of my family spend much more than I do. I buy a box of chocolate for each person. Mostly, it's the dinner, and eating a meticulously assembled feast together, with leftovers.

The grocery store has a charity fund where people can round up, or donate a fixed amount, for food banks. Around Christmas time there's the Salvation Army bucket, then down the road are the homeless.

No lack of opportunity to pitch in.

Good for you!

a reply to: TonyS

Just you wait.

The USA, once we get to appropriating properly, might just take Boxing Day.

We'll look into the traditional ways too.
And then what?

a reply to: The2Billies

"Your going to have to answer to the Coka Cola company." Colonel Bat Guano.



Yes, blame Coka Cola for the commercialization of Christmas. With all those Santa advertisments and even the polar bear commercials. I think Norman Rockwell drew the early ones.

You are very late with this. Hobby Lobby put Christmas in a month ago. They had pumpkins out at the beginning of July. Pretty sure those displays will be year round in a few years at this rate.

I like the idea of helping others more. Especially with this economy.

a reply to: The2Billies


Let everyone celebrate Christmas in whatever way they want within their own family.
We are always trying to control things and others.

Maybe you are doing a disservice to your middle class kid. Maybe by seeing what the rich kid can provide it would spark something in him to do better. Maybe the rich kid will see his kids are spoiled and the middle class kids appreciate what they have more…


Also let’s face it, Christmas isn’t just a religious holiday anymore. It’s a holiday that has taken many different meanings to different people. For some it is about the commercial aspect. I have found a lot of people that go nuts at Christmas with gifts for their families there is a deep trauma behind it. Often they felt lack as a child and want to heal that with their own children. Not saying it is right. Some people’s love langue’s is giving gifts.

a reply to: The2Billies

Lol I stopped celebrating Xmas 35 years ago for the exact reasons you state .

Families going into debt just to pay for stuff that will end up in the back of a cupboard unused and forgotten , some single mothers still paying for the presents from 2 years ago on credit , Christmas has totally lost its meaning in the modern age .

I was brought up old school a apple and orange in a sock on the fire place on Christmas morning ikyn , I can remember every present I received as a child and can count them on one hand what I see now is just greed and consumerism.

What the kids demand now for Christmas are high end stuff I pads etc which costs a week or mores wages per child then birthdays .

My birthday is just before Xmas and I got there is your birthday and Xmas present from family, so I would laugh as I handed them their present in June and said the same lol.

I hated seeing the tree and decorations vanish and how bare the house looked and knew back then I was the grinch even àt 13 years old I vanished and went to the pub ikyn , I hated all the noise and mess at the time of year and a 21 decided that I was not doing this again - me and my then gf were so hung over we could not eat this beautiful meal and I fell asleep and my face ended up in it .

It is OK for the kids but for adults mmmm , I like spending the day alone with the dog eating a pot noodle and watching cartoons , no mess no fuss it is just another 3 days that very little happens on .

But I do shop in the boxing day sales for presents for the families kids for next year , I just dump them with their mothers and tell them to wrap them up for me .

I joke with people that they should tell their kids they are now jehovas witnesses and do not do that sort of thing just before Christmas for the lolz

I really really am the Grinch .

You do not want to get me started on New year

But if you like all that fuss and have children and are gluttons for punishment why not have 2 xmases www.abovetopsecret.com...

Whatever the case, have a happy hibernal solstice!

a reply to: The2Billies

a reply to: The2Billies

I gave you a flag, but that was too fast. Each to their own I'd say. I agree that Christmas has become way too commercial , but don't give the 1%ers ideas with what you said. They are eager enough to seriously destroy Christmas/Christianity, so why add to it?

a reply to: ancientlight

You can take flags back, just not stars.

a reply to: The2Billies

Super, super, super T2B.One more,super.

When I was about 7, that was about 1954, the Santa joke was still believed by kids my age because of parents who held that truth close and media did not make such a cultural joke about it, I dearly wanted a robot toy. There was one I had been seeing on in ads that was way cool, I mean almost like Robbie the Robot. So I asked Santa for it on my Christmas list to Santa that was put in the mail so he would get it on time. How sweet, huh ?

So Christmas Eve rolled around and I was anxious. Our tradition was to put up the tree that afternoon, have dinner and then dress it in the evening. We all would go to bed, and try as we might to not fall asleep we did. Around midnight, something would wake up one of us sibs and that one would discover that Santa had been there and wake up the rest of us,parents too..

We would advance on the gift laden tree to find presents from family and presents from Santa. All were wrapped except for the major wish for each of us. I saw it in a quick swoop of my eyesight knowing it was for me but hoping it was not There stood a small little metal robot toy that had little eyes that lit up and a head and rolled on moving lets. None of the glorious features ot the Robbie that had so enchanted my dreams. I silently cried.

What's wrong here, had I not been ''good'' enough for Santa to bring me the one, the only one and basically the only thing on my list? What was wrong here. Was it me, or was it Santa. How could he not know. Why did he give me this little piece of crap and not a Robbie.

Then It slowly dawned on me. Something had kept him from getting me Robbie but he has tried to get me a robot anyway. And that thought continued, why? What could keep Santa from making me a Robbie instead of this tiny pile of metal. And bingo, it hit me. The only reason was that Santa could not afford a Robbie, and it came clear to me. My folks were Santa and they had done the best they could, the best they could afford. I ended up cherishing that toy for years, not playing with it much and mostly keeping it high on a shelf....My folks.


In one fell-swoop, the disparity of Christmas Reality and Christmas Fantasy began to come clear to me as well. Somewhere the next year we got our first TV, almost the last family on the block. I watched commercials pushing this Santa game on children when in reality us children should be embracing our parents. And on and on it went.

And somewhere along that line, I was maybe 12 or so, I had my first epiphany. My as yet un-diagnosed dyslexia, it would take decades more to understand, had me looking at the word Santa, and there it was. The name Santa flipped in mental confabulation and became Satan. Stopped me dead in my tracks.

Only a few years later the overly sensationalization of Black Friday gave birth to the Anti Black Friday movement. It barely hit the news cycle as anything more than a momentary lark. But I heard it. Loud and Strong. Now, well more than a half century later I have never once bought anything, ANYTHING, on Black Friday.

And look where we are now. Black Friday has been turned into an ''event'' and an ''experience''. It spreads out for more than a week and actually starts around Halloween and the ''sales'' go on and on into post Xmas ''events'' well into January.

Later, when I began reading into the Commercialization of Christmas it became clearer to me. How most if not all business with product to sell, existed in the red all year long and would net even exist were it not for that Christmas frenzy of sales and all of it, banking on the back of Jesus's birthday. The entirety of the American economy continued only because of this sensationalism. And all of it manipulating and twisting the true message of Christ.

I'm sorry for taking so long with this but the completeness of your own disgust just opened up my own and so you have it .

Boycott Black Friday.


And if it is not too early, have a Merry Real Christmas.

gifts=love

Isn't that the original meaning ?
That was some expensive gifts , back in the day .

"Equity, Fairness, and Justice" That phrase ALWAYS means someone else, usually a flaming lib, is trying to tell me what to do. A Pox on your house, sir. Do whatever you want, but don't include me in any of your "movements." That is the path to tyranny.

Can I just toss out there that for all the talk of "appropriation" op seems to not be considering that the date and most of the traditions were "appropriated" from pagans and Yule? Thanks.

The wife and I usually give beef for our kids and my brother and nephew for Christmas. We buy a half a cow and give half of it to the kids, grandkids, my brother and his wife, and my nephew. I do not buy anyone things they do not need for christmas, for the grandkids and great grandkids that are young, we give them twenty bucks each. The wife knits and gives washcloths and hats for gifts too. everyone knows we got too much junk already, my brother will get me auto supplies and sometimes a tool I don't have, and my kids or my brother will give us a thirty buck gift certificate to Bucks Restaurant or Red lobster...we still go for fish fries occasionally and that is not wasted money because about six times a year we go for fish fries anyway.

We also go to the Chinese buffet about four times a year when shopping in Marquette, with the senior discount, a twenty four dollar for all you can eat, I usually just eat fish and shrimp dishes and a tad bit of chicken stuff. I am not that good at making Chinese foods and the wife isn't good at it either. We do occasionally have a bag of generals chicken in the freezer, actually we have two right now, and about four packages of four egg rolls to put in the oven. I can make a cabbage and veggie stir fry that is half way decent, but that is the extent of it. We never seem to get a gift certificate for that though at christmas.

We have been against commercial christmas for a long time...I only buy gifts that people will use and need, and request the same kind of gifts from the kids. To us, Christmas is about getting together with family and feasting.

Santa...mix up the letters and see what else it spells...is about training the kids to believe in lies because it profits them. It is not as innocent as it seems, it is conditioning probably started by politicians.